DAPL, the Zeitgeist, and Gandhi: The Climate Minute Podcast

posted by Ted McIntyre | 187sc
January 30, 2017

Executive Orders were issued recently aimed at reviving both Keystone XL and the Dakota Access Pipeline. Does it still make sense? What does make sense is the eruption of “alt” Twitter accounts for National Parks, the EPA and other agencies.

The zeitgeist can’t be rewritten by environmentalists alone. Though there’s no technical reason why environmental protection should be a “progressive” idea, it’s clear that in our day and age the Republican party and the conservative movement have chosen to go with the fossil fuel industry. (They’ve been bought, and they’ve stayed bought). That leaves those who care about the climate standing with those who care about the poor, about racial justice, about immigrants, about peace. And at bottom that’s the right fit: a renewably powered world would be far more localized, democratic, and fair. It’s the opposite of planet Koch in every way.

Finally, what can Mahatma (The Great Soul) Gandhi teach us about how to resist the authoritarian police state we appear headed for? Listen in.

Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon.